(http://www.waxpoetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/aaliyah1.jpg)
It wasn't released until the 17th in the U.S. but I've seen a few boards I post on praising it.
happ' ann' queens!
(https://65.media.tumblr.com/1b5f8a5192e068c0f3d550d7f075767a/tumblr_nnvyz7Lz0u1rm17mio1_540.jpg)
(https://66.media.tumblr.com/bfbc4ba40f54a23aabb4833c98c5b0c7/tumblr_nnvyz7Lz0u1rm17mio2_540.jpg)
(https://66.media.tumblr.com/bc1b33b5ebb62b57efede91e4f0a02f7/tumblr_nnvyz7Lz0u1rm17mio3_540.jpg)
Quote from: Chao on July 08, 2016, 03:50:08 PM
happ' ann' queens!
(https://65.media.tumblr.com/1b5f8a5192e068c0f3d550d7f075767a/tumblr_nnvyz7Lz0u1rm17mio1_540.jpg)
(https://66.media.tumblr.com/bfbc4ba40f54a23aabb4833c98c5b0c7/tumblr_nnvyz7Lz0u1rm17mio2_540.jpg)
(https://66.media.tumblr.com/bc1b33b5ebb62b57efede91e4f0a02f7/tumblr_nnvyz7Lz0u1rm17mio3_540.jpg)
these are beautiful
:stressed:
Wow
The Rolling Stone review for this album, published just weeks before her death, is legend. :flamebroiled:
Aaliyah is an R&B seductress of the highest order, the undisputed queen of the midtempo come-on. She works her voodoo on a bed of diamond-precision beats and densely sculptured grooves: Starting with her R. Kelly-produced debut album, 1994's Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, and continuing through 1996's One in a Million, which began her fruitful association with Timbaland and Missy Elliott, her impact on contemporary R&B - and therefore pop - has been enormous. Long before Britney scandalized a nation by winking at dirty old men everywhere, the teenage Aaliyah was romantically linked with the much older R. Kelly and singing the erotic, precocious lyrics he'd written for her. One in a Million proved she wasn't a fluke by heightening the contradictions that made her resonate: She was the B-girl with supermodel looks, simultaneously distant and down-to-earth. That blend of the familiar and the exotic was reflected in her singing, which was both aloof and inviting. Her voice - small, often tinny - was rendered supple when couched in Timbaland's barrage of beats and off-kilter studio flourishes. She sang with an authority at odds with the fragility of her instrument.
On Aaliyah, a near-flawless declaration of strength and independence, she ups the ante for herself and her contemporaries - as well as for her musical heroes. Aaliyah is Control, Velvet Rope and Jagged Little Pill all rolled into one. It's the album Janet should have made with All for You, the manifesto that Beyonce thought she was penning with Survivor. Timbaland produced only a handful of the disc's fifteen tracks, but his Afro-sci-fi influence is everywhere: layered and oddly tweaked vocals, beats lovingly laced with techno-electro strokes that threaten to shatter your system, arrangements that harness sonic non sequiturs and give them a cohesion that's breathtaking. Missy Elliott's So Addictive or OutKast's Stankonia are the only recent hip-hop/R&B/pop records as overflowing with ideas and experimentation. An even more fitting comparison, though, would be to Sade's 2000 comeback, Lovers Rock. (Aaliyah has stated in interviews that Sade is her heroine.) Aaliyah has the familiar crisp production and staccato arrangements that we've come to associate with Sade; like Lovers Rock, Aaliyah tilts forward in its sound but also reaches back to old-school soul music to flesh out its slow jams.
The tone is set with the opening track and first single, "We Need a Resolution," which is driven by a stop-and-go drum pattern, hand claps and a male-vs.-female take on the dissolution of a love affair. Aaliyah's voice snakes through the intricately sparse arrangement with cool confidence. That assurance is the foundation for the entire album. "What If" is a Detroit-techno-meets-industrial-rock workout that nods to Trent Reznor (another Aaliyah hero). Where too many R&B artists who decide to rock out affect a laughable rasp (Janet's "Black Cat," En Vogue's "Free Your Mind"), Aaliyah channels rock's aggression and attitude without resorting to caricature. She does the same with "Extra Smooth," which vaults somewhere beyond hip-hop and drum-and-bass, tapping into reserves of funk and playfulness that popular R&B hasn't accessed in ages. And the withering kiss-off tune, "U Got Nerve," is drenched with palpable F-you vibes. At the opposite end of the spectrum is a trio of dazzling ballads, "I Care 4 U," "Never No More" and the piano-driven "I Refuse." All have a deep, bluesy, jazzy undertow that pulls Aaliyah into soulful performances showcasing a bruised knowingness. They're the best she's ever been vocally, reflecting a stronger technique than is found on her previous albums. Another lesson Aaliyah has learned from hanging with Missy and Timbaland is the importance of humor, which permeates the new disc in ways both sly and subtle. Timbaland playfully dismisses her concerns on the give-and-take of "We Need a Resolution"; on "Read Between the Line," she lets her vocals get stretched in a jokey, elastic way. The wit in the production and dollops of lightheartedness balance the eroticism, outrage and heartbreak in the lyrics.
The album's highlight, though, is "Rock Da Boat," a masterpiece of unbridled salaciousness. Aaliyah breathlessly purrs sexual commands ("Change positions," "Work the middle," "Stroke it for me . . .") over an airy groove whose instrumentation swells against and then falls away from her voice. The hypnotic rhythm churns with erotic heat; beats both soft and hard tumble gently over one another as synth effects flutter and swoop. This track is sex, pure and simple.
The irony is that at the start of her career, the unapologetic, blunt sexuality in her music marked Aaliyah as R. Kelly's studio creation, a contrived plaything. "Rock Da Boat," unblushing in its frankness, shows that she has come into her own as a woman. She's at the wheel, steering her sexuality and using it to explore her own fantasies and strengths. And the joy you hear in her voice, in the grooves, is rooted in independence. R&B's reigning ice princess is starting to thaw.
ERNEST HARDY
(RS 874 - August 2, 2001)
Amazing album
Quote from: ssw4919 on July 08, 2016, 04:10:43 PM
The Rolling Stone review for this album, published just weeks before her death, is legend. :flamebroiled:
Aaliyah is an R&B seductress of the highest order, the undisputed queen of the midtempo come-on. She works her voodoo on a bed of diamond-precision beats and densely sculptured grooves: Starting with her R. Kelly-produced debut album, 1994's Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, and continuing through 1996's One in a Million, which began her fruitful association with Timbaland and Missy Elliott, her impact on contemporary R&B - and therefore pop - has been enormous. Long before Britney scandalized a nation by winking at dirty old men everywhere, the teenage Aaliyah was romantically linked with the much older R. Kelly and singing the erotic, precocious lyrics he'd written for her. One in a Million proved she wasn't a fluke by heightening the contradictions that made her resonate: She was the B-girl with supermodel looks, simultaneously distant and down-to-earth. That blend of the familiar and the exotic was reflected in her singing, which was both aloof and inviting. Her voice - small, often tinny - was rendered supple when couched in Timbaland's barrage of beats and off-kilter studio flourishes. She sang with an authority at odds with the fragility of her instrument.
On Aaliyah, a near-flawless declaration of strength and independence, she ups the ante for herself and her contemporaries - as well as for her musical heroes. Aaliyah is Control, Velvet Rope and Jagged Little Pill all rolled into one. It's the album Janet should have made with All for You, the manifesto that Beyonce thought she was penning with Survivor. Timbaland produced only a handful of the disc's fifteen tracks, but his Afro-sci-fi influence is everywhere: layered and oddly tweaked vocals, beats lovingly laced with techno-electro strokes that threaten to shatter your system, arrangements that harness sonic non sequiturs and give them a cohesion that's breathtaking. Missy Elliott's So Addictive or OutKast's Stankonia are the only recent hip-hop/R&B/pop records as overflowing with ideas and experimentation. An even more fitting comparison, though, would be to Sade's 2000 comeback, Lovers Rock. (Aaliyah has stated in interviews that Sade is her heroine.) Aaliyah has the familiar crisp production and staccato arrangements that we've come to associate with Sade; like Lovers Rock, Aaliyah tilts forward in its sound but also reaches back to old-school soul music to flesh out its slow jams.
The tone is set with the opening track and first single, "We Need a Resolution," which is driven by a stop-and-go drum pattern, hand claps and a male-vs.-female take on the dissolution of a love affair. Aaliyah's voice snakes through the intricately sparse arrangement with cool confidence. That assurance is the foundation for the entire album. "What If" is a Detroit-techno-meets-industrial-rock workout that nods to Trent Reznor (another Aaliyah hero). Where too many R&B artists who decide to rock out affect a laughable rasp (Janet's "Black Cat," En Vogue's "Free Your Mind"), Aaliyah channels rock's aggression and attitude without resorting to caricature. She does the same with "Extra Smooth," which vaults somewhere beyond hip-hop and drum-and-bass, tapping into reserves of funk and playfulness that popular R&B hasn't accessed in ages. And the withering kiss-off tune, "U Got Nerve," is drenched with palpable F-you vibes. At the opposite end of the spectrum is a trio of dazzling ballads, "I Care 4 U," "Never No More" and the piano-driven "I Refuse." All have a deep, bluesy, jazzy undertow that pulls Aaliyah into soulful performances showcasing a bruised knowingness. They're the best she's ever been vocally, reflecting a stronger technique than is found on her previous albums. Another lesson Aaliyah has learned from hanging with Missy and Timbaland is the importance of humor, which permeates the new disc in ways both sly and subtle. Timbaland playfully dismisses her concerns on the give-and-take of "We Need a Resolution"; on "Read Between the Line," she lets her vocals get stretched in a jokey, elastic way. The wit in the production and dollops of lightheartedness balance the eroticism, outrage and heartbreak in the lyrics.
The album's highlight, though, is "Rock Da Boat," a masterpiece of unbridled salaciousness. Aaliyah breathlessly purrs sexual commands ("Change positions," "Work the middle," "Stroke it for me . . .") over an airy groove whose instrumentation swells against and then falls away from her voice. The hypnotic rhythm churns with erotic heat; beats both soft and hard tumble gently over one another as synth effects flutter and swoop. This track is sex, pure and simple.
The irony is that at the start of her career, the unapologetic, blunt sexuality in her music marked Aaliyah as R. Kelly's studio creation, a contrived plaything. "Rock Da Boat," unblushing in its frankness, shows that she has come into her own as a woman. She's at the wheel, steering her sexuality and using it to explore her own fantasies and strengths. And the joy you hear in her voice, in the grooves, is rooted in independence. R&B's reigning ice princess is starting to thaw.
ERNEST HARDY
(RS 874 - August 2, 2001)
:stressed:
dope album
Great album for the most part. "I Refuse" is still my mothafuckin song
:loose2when: :loose2when: :loose2when: :loose2when:
late afternewn......sun going down.... I call on the cell...
Iconic!!
This album was really game-changing in a lot of ways. It was so fucking futuristic UGH. Let me go listen...gotta find the damn physical copy though
Great cohesive body of work. :stressed:
Mess at me being late to this
omf i'm in my feelings
We Need a Resolution is so timeless :gorlonfire:
this was a cute album
the fckn singles
:loose2when: :loose2when: :loose2when: :loose2when:
The red album was so ahead of it's time and the album cover is still one of my favorites.
Still FRESH, I listen to this album regularly
Quote from: ssw4919 on July 08, 2016, 04:10:43 PM
The Rolling Stone review for this album, published just weeks before her death, is legend. :flamebroiled:
Aaliyah is an R&B seductress of the highest order, the undisputed queen of the midtempo come-on. She works her voodoo on a bed of diamond-precision beats and densely sculptured grooves: Starting with her R. Kelly-produced debut album, 1994's Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, and continuing through 1996's One in a Million, which began her fruitful association with Timbaland and Missy Elliott, her impact on contemporary R&B - and therefore pop - has been enormous. Long before Britney scandalized a nation by winking at dirty old men everywhere, the teenage Aaliyah was romantically linked with the much older R. Kelly and singing the erotic, precocious lyrics he'd written for her. One in a Million proved she wasn't a fluke by heightening the contradictions that made her resonate: She was the B-girl with supermodel looks, simultaneously distant and down-to-earth. That blend of the familiar and the exotic was reflected in her singing, which was both aloof and inviting. Her voice - small, often tinny - was rendered supple when couched in Timbaland's barrage of beats and off-kilter studio flourishes. She sang with an authority at odds with the fragility of her instrument.
On Aaliyah, a near-flawless declaration of strength and independence, she ups the ante for herself and her contemporaries - as well as for her musical heroes. Aaliyah is Control, Velvet Rope and Jagged Little Pill all rolled into one. It's the album Janet should have made with All for You, the manifesto that Beyonce thought she was penning with Survivor. Timbaland produced only a handful of the disc's fifteen tracks, but his Afro-sci-fi influence is everywhere: layered and oddly tweaked vocals, beats lovingly laced with techno-electro strokes that threaten to shatter your system, arrangements that harness sonic non sequiturs and give them a cohesion that's breathtaking. Missy Elliott's So Addictive or OutKast's Stankonia are the only recent hip-hop/R&B/pop records as overflowing with ideas and experimentation. An even more fitting comparison, though, would be to Sade's 2000 comeback, Lovers Rock. (Aaliyah has stated in interviews that Sade is her heroine.) Aaliyah has the familiar crisp production and staccato arrangements that we've come to associate with Sade; like Lovers Rock, Aaliyah tilts forward in its sound but also reaches back to old-school soul music to flesh out its slow jams.
The tone is set with the opening track and first single, "We Need a Resolution," which is driven by a stop-and-go drum pattern, hand claps and a male-vs.-female take on the dissolution of a love affair. Aaliyah's voice snakes through the intricately sparse arrangement with cool confidence. That assurance is the foundation for the entire album. "What If" is a Detroit-techno-meets-industrial-rock workout that nods to Trent Reznor (another Aaliyah hero). Where too many R&B artists who decide to rock out affect a laughable rasp (Janet's "Black Cat," En Vogue's "Free Your Mind"), Aaliyah channels rock's aggression and attitude without resorting to caricature. She does the same with "Extra Smooth," which vaults somewhere beyond hip-hop and drum-and-bass, tapping into reserves of funk and playfulness that popular R&B hasn't accessed in ages. And the withering kiss-off tune, "U Got Nerve," is drenched with palpable F-you vibes. At the opposite end of the spectrum is a trio of dazzling ballads, "I Care 4 U," "Never No More" and the piano-driven "I Refuse." All have a deep, bluesy, jazzy undertow that pulls Aaliyah into soulful performances showcasing a bruised knowingness. They're the best she's ever been vocally, reflecting a stronger technique than is found on her previous albums. Another lesson Aaliyah has learned from hanging with Missy and Timbaland is the importance of humor, which permeates the new disc in ways both sly and subtle. Timbaland playfully dismisses her concerns on the give-and-take of "We Need a Resolution"; on "Read Between the Line," she lets her vocals get stretched in a jokey, elastic way. The wit in the production and dollops of lightheartedness balance the eroticism, outrage and heartbreak in the lyrics.
The album's highlight, though, is "Rock Da Boat," a masterpiece of unbridled salaciousness. Aaliyah breathlessly purrs sexual commands ("Change positions," "Work the middle," "Stroke it for me . . .") over an airy groove whose instrumentation swells against and then falls away from her voice. The hypnotic rhythm churns with erotic heat; beats both soft and hard tumble gently over one another as synth effects flutter and swoop. This track is sex, pure and simple.
The irony is that at the start of her career, the unapologetic, blunt sexuality in her music marked Aaliyah as R. Kelly's studio creation, a contrived plaything. "Rock Da Boat," unblushing in its frankness, shows that she has come into her own as a woman. She's at the wheel, steering her sexuality and using it to explore her own fantasies and strengths. And the joy you hear in her voice, in the grooves, is rooted in independence. R&B's reigning ice princess is starting to thaw.
ERNEST HARDY
(RS 874 - August 2, 2001)
:stressed:
Quote from: Vonc2002 on July 17, 2016, 08:58:39 AM
Still FRESH, I listen to this album regularly
!!!!!!! Me too. It's ironic that this album can easily fit into 2016.
I still remember when I bought the album when it came out. I went to HMV on 42nd street in NYC and bought it. She slayed with this album.
Brings back a lot of memories.
Fucking QUEEN!!!!!
Iconic album
Iconic woman
I have been studying and getting into her so much lately
Thank God for YouTube
Quote from: .betterwiseup on July 17, 2016, 08:42:43 AM
The red album was so ahead of it's time and the album cover is still one of my favorites.
!!!!
I get so happy when one of the songs from this album comes on my shuffle. The cover is so aesthetically pleasing and the music is just so progressive and out of the box. I know this goes without saying but I really wish she was still with us. I seriously think she would've helped to push R&B music forward.
Quote from: ssw4919 on July 08, 2016, 04:10:43 PM
The Rolling Stone review for this album, published just weeks before her death, is legend. :flamebroiled:
Aaliyah is an R&B seductress of the highest order, the undisputed queen of the midtempo come-on. She works her voodoo on a bed of diamond-precision beats and densely sculptured grooves: Starting with her R. Kelly-produced debut album, 1994's Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, and continuing through 1996's One in a Million, which began her fruitful association with Timbaland and Missy Elliott, her impact on contemporary R&B - and therefore pop - has been enormous. Long before Britney scandalized a nation by winking at dirty old men everywhere, the teenage Aaliyah was romantically linked with the much older R. Kelly and singing the erotic, precocious lyrics he'd written for her. One in a Million proved she wasn't a fluke by heightening the contradictions that made her resonate: She was the B-girl with supermodel looks, simultaneously distant and down-to-earth. That blend of the familiar and the exotic was reflected in her singing, which was both aloof and inviting. Her voice - small, often tinny - was rendered supple when couched in Timbaland's barrage of beats and off-kilter studio flourishes. She sang with an authority at odds with the fragility of her instrument.
On Aaliyah, a near-flawless declaration of strength and independence, she ups the ante for herself and her contemporaries - as well as for her musical heroes. Aaliyah is Control, Velvet Rope and Jagged Little Pill all rolled into one. It's the album Janet should have made with All for You, the manifesto that Beyonce thought she was penning with Survivor. Timbaland produced only a handful of the disc's fifteen tracks, but his Afro-sci-fi influence is everywhere: layered and oddly tweaked vocals, beats lovingly laced with techno-electro strokes that threaten to shatter your system, arrangements that harness sonic non sequiturs and give them a cohesion that's breathtaking. Missy Elliott's So Addictive or OutKast's Stankonia are the only recent hip-hop/R&B/pop records as overflowing with ideas and experimentation. An even more fitting comparison, though, would be to Sade's 2000 comeback, Lovers Rock. (Aaliyah has stated in interviews that Sade is her heroine.) Aaliyah has the familiar crisp production and staccato arrangements that we've come to associate with Sade; like Lovers Rock, Aaliyah tilts forward in its sound but also reaches back to old-school soul music to flesh out its slow jams.
The tone is set with the opening track and first single, "We Need a Resolution," which is driven by a stop-and-go drum pattern, hand claps and a male-vs.-female take on the dissolution of a love affair. Aaliyah's voice snakes through the intricately sparse arrangement with cool confidence. That assurance is the foundation for the entire album. "What If" is a Detroit-techno-meets-industrial-rock workout that nods to Trent Reznor (another Aaliyah hero). Where too many R&B artists who decide to rock out affect a laughable rasp (Janet's "Black Cat," En Vogue's "Free Your Mind"), Aaliyah channels rock's aggression and attitude without resorting to caricature. She does the same with "Extra Smooth," which vaults somewhere beyond hip-hop and drum-and-bass, tapping into reserves of funk and playfulness that popular R&B hasn't accessed in ages. And the withering kiss-off tune, "U Got Nerve," is drenched with palpable F-you vibes. At the opposite end of the spectrum is a trio of dazzling ballads, "I Care 4 U," "Never No More" and the piano-driven "I Refuse." All have a deep, bluesy, jazzy undertow that pulls Aaliyah into soulful performances showcasing a bruised knowingness. They're the best she's ever been vocally, reflecting a stronger technique than is found on her previous albums. Another lesson Aaliyah has learned from hanging with Missy and Timbaland is the importance of humor, which permeates the new disc in ways both sly and subtle. Timbaland playfully dismisses her concerns on the give-and-take of "We Need a Resolution"; on "Read Between the Line," she lets her vocals get stretched in a jokey, elastic way. The wit in the production and dollops of lightheartedness balance the eroticism, outrage and heartbreak in the lyrics.
The album's highlight, though, is "Rock Da Boat," a masterpiece of unbridled salaciousness. Aaliyah breathlessly purrs sexual commands ("Change positions," "Work the middle," "Stroke it for me . . .") over an airy groove whose instrumentation swells against and then falls away from her voice. The hypnotic rhythm churns with erotic heat; beats both soft and hard tumble gently over one another as synth effects flutter and swoop. This track is sex, pure and simple.
The irony is that at the start of her career, the unapologetic, blunt sexuality in her music marked Aaliyah as R. Kelly's studio creation, a contrived plaything. "Rock Da Boat," unblushing in its frankness, shows that she has come into her own as a woman. She's at the wheel, steering her sexuality and using it to explore her own fantasies and strengths. And the joy you hear in her voice, in the grooves, is rooted in independence. R&B's reigning ice princess is starting to thaw.
ERNEST HARDY
(RS 874 - August 2, 2001)
(http://7.mshcdn.com/wp-content/gallery/oscar-memes/octavia-oscars.gif)
I'm still fascinated with the photo shoots and music videos for the album. Everything was perfect.
(http://66.media.tumblr.com/bf6be929b8914eb6f8a49a9ae099a725/tumblr_ntnfuitMoh1r9j7a6o1_400.gif)
(http://67.media.tumblr.com/8dda270c0e73868b277d509ef286a883/tumblr_nfpsbdj17n1r9j7a6o1_400.gif)
:loose2when:
(http://66.media.tumblr.com/6c86346f5da6e8d6f5eeafc81d042021/tumblr_oacwwyEl591qad56lo1_1280.jpg)
(https://media.giphy.com/media/NJGvgXmFX3FIY/giphy.gif)
(https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8018/7301937090_6f3b5958ff.jpg)
We need a resolution is one of my favorite videos Ever
I can't with this woman
Quote from: .betterwiseup on July 17, 2016, 03:56:54 PM
I'm still fascinated with the photo shoots and music videos for the album. Everything was perfect.
!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have to re purchase the album: I can't find it anywhere :uhh:
Quote from: ssw4919 on July 08, 2016, 04:10:43 PM
The Rolling Stone review for this album, published just weeks before her death, is legend. :flamebroiled:
Aaliyah is an R&B seductress of the highest order, the undisputed queen of the midtempo come-on. She works her voodoo on a bed of diamond-precision beats and densely sculptured grooves: Starting with her R. Kelly-produced debut album, 1994's Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, and continuing through 1996's One in a Million, which began her fruitful association with Timbaland and Missy Elliott, her impact on contemporary R&B - and therefore pop - has been enormous. Long before Britney scandalized a nation by winking at dirty old men everywhere, the teenage Aaliyah was romantically linked with the much older R. Kelly and singing the erotic, precocious lyrics he'd written for her. One in a Million proved she wasn't a fluke by heightening the contradictions that made her resonate: She was the B-girl with supermodel looks, simultaneously distant and down-to-earth. That blend of the familiar and the exotic was reflected in her singing, which was both aloof and inviting. Her voice - small, often tinny - was rendered supple when couched in Timbaland's barrage of beats and off-kilter studio flourishes. She sang with an authority at odds with the fragility of her instrument.
On Aaliyah, a near-flawless declaration of strength and independence, she ups the ante for herself and her contemporaries - as well as for her musical heroes. Aaliyah is Control, Velvet Rope and Jagged Little Pill all rolled into one. It's the album Janet should have made with All for You, the manifesto that Beyonce thought she was penning with Survivor. Timbaland produced only a handful of the disc's fifteen tracks, but his Afro-sci-fi influence is everywhere: layered and oddly tweaked vocals, beats lovingly laced with techno-electro strokes that threaten to shatter your system, arrangements that harness sonic non sequiturs and give them a cohesion that's breathtaking. Missy Elliott's So Addictive or OutKast's Stankonia are the only recent hip-hop/R&B/pop records as overflowing with ideas and experimentation. An even more fitting comparison, though, would be to Sade's 2000 comeback, Lovers Rock. (Aaliyah has stated in interviews that Sade is her heroine.) Aaliyah has the familiar crisp production and staccato arrangements that we've come to associate with Sade; like Lovers Rock, Aaliyah tilts forward in its sound but also reaches back to old-school soul music to flesh out its slow jams.
The tone is set with the opening track and first single, "We Need a Resolution," which is driven by a stop-and-go drum pattern, hand claps and a male-vs.-female take on the dissolution of a love affair. Aaliyah's voice snakes through the intricately sparse arrangement with cool confidence. That assurance is the foundation for the entire album. "What If" is a Detroit-techno-meets-industrial-rock workout that nods to Trent Reznor (another Aaliyah hero). Where too many R&B artists who decide to rock out affect a laughable rasp (Janet's "Black Cat," En Vogue's "Free Your Mind"), Aaliyah channels rock's aggression and attitude without resorting to caricature. She does the same with "Extra Smooth," which vaults somewhere beyond hip-hop and drum-and-bass, tapping into reserves of funk and playfulness that popular R&B hasn't accessed in ages. And the withering kiss-off tune, "U Got Nerve," is drenched with palpable F-you vibes. At the opposite end of the spectrum is a trio of dazzling ballads, "I Care 4 U," "Never No More" and the piano-driven "I Refuse." All have a deep, bluesy, jazzy undertow that pulls Aaliyah into soulful performances showcasing a bruised knowingness. They're the best she's ever been vocally, reflecting a stronger technique than is found on her previous albums. Another lesson Aaliyah has learned from hanging with Missy and Timbaland is the importance of humor, which permeates the new disc in ways both sly and subtle. Timbaland playfully dismisses her concerns on the give-and-take of "We Need a Resolution"; on "Read Between the Line," she lets her vocals get stretched in a jokey, elastic way. The wit in the production and dollops of lightheartedness balance the eroticism, outrage and heartbreak in the lyrics.
The album's highlight, though, is "Rock Da Boat," a masterpiece of unbridled salaciousness. Aaliyah breathlessly purrs sexual commands ("Change positions," "Work the middle," "Stroke it for me . . .") over an airy groove whose instrumentation swells against and then falls away from her voice. The hypnotic rhythm churns with erotic heat; beats both soft and hard tumble gently over one another as synth effects flutter and swoop. This track is sex, pure and simple.
The irony is that at the start of her career, the unapologetic, blunt sexuality in her music marked Aaliyah as R. Kelly's studio creation, a contrived plaything. "Rock Da Boat," unblushing in its frankness, shows that she has come into her own as a woman. She's at the wheel, steering her sexuality and using it to explore her own fantasies and strengths. And the joy you hear in her voice, in the grooves, is rooted in independence. R&B's reigning ice princess is starting to thaw.
ERNEST HARDY
(RS 874 - August 2, 2001)
Wow, Rock The Boat was considered the major Standout.
Wonder if that single was already lined up before this review.
(http://25.media.tumblr.com/e17ab60ad9e3144e6c4160da894a14be/tumblr_meu92l3Shb1qelvj7o8_250.gif)
(http://24.media.tumblr.com/35743a0bfd0a2ea2c321ca551c2014af/tumblr_n10qshzCRA1qdato8o2_500.gif)
(https://media.giphy.com/media/t7MGvQloM7VS0/giphy.gif)
Effortlessly sexy.
Her album cover almost seems like a "final" one to me.
It has an ever-lasting vibe to it.
Haven't listened in a while, but such an iconic album. Sis went out on an amazing note.
Omffff I was 11 or 12 when this came out and was so enthralled by the music
It just connected
:gorlonfire:
The alber takes u on a journey mess out
Quote from: FINE. on July 17, 2016, 04:06:47 PM
I have to re purchase the album: I can't find it anywhere :uhh:
I wish her family wouldn't have stopped the distribution of her music. A CD & vinyl repressing of the red album would be so nice. :receipts: :stressed:
Quote from: .betterwiseup on July 17, 2016, 04:02:27 PM
(https://media.giphy.com/media/NJGvgXmFX3FIY/giphy.gif)
My favourite single by her. I hate that it underperformed on the charts. It was great way for her to re-enter the industry. It was edgy, slighty haunting, dark, etc. :stressed:
And to actually name the album "Aaliyah".
Ch.
Sis really left an amazing body of work.
"I Care 4 U"
:stressed:
Quote from: squid on July 17, 2016, 04:09:43 PM
Quote from: FINE. on July 17, 2016, 04:06:47 PM
I have to re purchase the album: I can't find it anywhere :uhh:
I wish her family wouldn't have stopped the distribution of her music. A CD & vinyl repressing of the red album would be so nice. :receipts: :stressed:
!!!!!!!!!!
:uhh:
Here's a rare mess of rashad talking about Queen of the Damned someone recently posted.
He's so handsome. And looks just like Aaliyah. They could have been twins.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kaw5xXwVy64
n
Quote from: FINE. on July 17, 2016, 04:11:56 PM
Quote from: squid on July 17, 2016, 04:09:43 PM
Quote from: FINE. on July 17, 2016, 04:06:47 PM
I have to re purchase the album: I can't find it anywhere :uhh:
I wish her family wouldn't have stopped the distribution of her music. A CD & vinyl repressing of the red album would be so nice. :receipts: :stressed:
!!!!!!!!!!
:uhh:
!!!!!!!!!!!! :uhh:: Her family needs to get it together.
I Refuse was always a fav of mine
To think this girl was only 22-23 recording music that was soooo ahead of its time. "Never No More" ALONE... :gorlonfire: :stressed:
Quote from: TAE! on July 17, 2016, 04:31:52 PM
To think this girl was only 22-23 recording music that was soooo ahead of its time. "Never No More" ALONE... :gorlonfire: :stressed:
Iconic body of work tbh
Ima go blast "Extra Smooth" rn :ohwow:
Too sad
Quote from: FINE. on July 17, 2016, 04:13:37 PM
Here's a rare mess of rashad talking about Queen of the Damned someone recently posted.
He's so handsome. And looks just like Aaliyah. They could have been twins.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kaw5xXwVy64
These REDUNDANT questions
not "what did u think of the film"
One of my all time favorite albums
I Refuse>
Those Were The Days>
Rock the Boat>
More Than A Woman>
Loose Rap>
I Can Be>
I Care 4 U>
Never No Mo>
We Need A Resolution>
Omffff this rolling stone review before her passing >>
Thanks for posting!
Quote
On Aaliyah, a near-flawless declaration of strength and independence, she ups the ante for herself and her contemporaries - as well as for her musical heroes.
:flamebroiled:
This part alone >
lolz
Quote from: FINE. on July 17, 2016, 04:06:47 PM
I have to re purchase the album: I can't find it anywhere :uhh:
!!!!! Even famous record shops around the world don't have it
Loose Rap
U got Nerve
I care 4 u
More than A Woman
Rock The Boat
We need a resolution
:stressed: this fuckin QUEEN
amazon say's hiya lolz
https://www.amazon.com/Aaliyah/dp/B00005LMJU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468793510&sr=8-2&keywords=aaliyah
19.95 bbys
Quote from: 1 9 9 2 on July 17, 2016, 06:13:01 PM
amazon say's hiya lolz
https://www.amazon.com/Aaliyah/dp/B00005LMJU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468793510&sr=8-2&keywords=aaliyah
19.95 bbys
hshsshhs
Bout to order
Thanks
Li! Hun!
:stressed:
(http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/31900000/AALIYAH-Rock-The-Boat-RARE-aaliyah-31950087-612-612.png)
This album took a while to grow on me. I didn't really appreciate it until I got a little older.
She really took risks with her sound. She could have easily gone with what all the other gorls were doing at the time, but sis was a true artist. I love that she wasn't afraid to give R&B a bit of edge and experimentation. That's one of the things I appreciate most about her.
I believe it's also what set her apart from the others.